I have a quick question about the 990. Does it have crossovers similiar to the icbm. In my current setup I use a 1050 reciever and am using the direct inputs on the back in order to bypass the internal DACS. I have an external Dac I use instead. Can the 990 be used similiarly?
In other words can I by pass the internal DAC and if I do will I lose the ability to cross over my speakers?

thanks
Dan

It has crossovers that are nearly identical to the ICBM - one for the mains, one for the center, one for the side surrounds, and one for the rear surrounds. These crossovers are also applied to the 7.1 direct input (unless all speakers are set to large, in which case all bass management is bypassed anyway).

If you bypass the internal DAC for two-channel material (which can be done for any analog stereo input with the "bypass" setting), you will send full-range data to the mains as part of the bypass. If I remember correctly, however, the 990 behaves similarly to the 950 in analog stereo bypass and makes a digital copy that is then sent through the bass management to generate a signal for the sub. You don't remove anything from the signal to the mains, but you do get low frequency to your sub. In theory, this creates a double bass situation, but if you have your crossover point set to coincide with the point where you mains are rolling off anyway then the mains just roll off naturally and the sub is intended to slide in and pick up that information. (There's also a trim setting for each input that allows for reducing the level of the sub when in stereo mode, which can help blend the sub in with the mains in this case.)

sounds like I will have to keep the icbm for now then. I love my dac too much The biggest problem with bypassing the internal dac is that I have to cross over the speakers some how. We are talking 2 channel here anyway

By residing in the analog domain, you make bass management at the processor almost impossible (since receivers and processors handle bass management in the digital domain in nearly every case). The ICBM is one of the few ways of achieving both.